Ein Rogel

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Coordinates: 31°46′04″N 35°14′08″E / 31.7677°N 35.2355°E / 31.7677; 35.2355

Ein Rogel (Hebrew: עין רגל, Ein Rogel), also known as Well of Job,[1] was a spring on the outskirts of Jerusalem mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the hiding-place of David's spies, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, during Absalom's uprising against the rule of King David (2 Samuel 17:17). It may also have been a sacred place in pre-Israelite times.[2]

Spelling variants[]

In English it also appears as Enrogel (2 Samuel 17:17, King James Version), En-rogel (2 Samuel 17:17, American Standard Version and English Standard Version), or En Rogel (2 Samuel 17:17, NIV and NKJV).

Hebrew Bible accounts[]

En Rogel was one of the boundary marks between Judah and Benjamin (Joshua 15:7, 18:16).

During Absalom's uprising against David, Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed at Ein Rogel, "for they dared not be seen coming into the city (Jerusalem); so a female servant would come and tell them, and they would go and tell King David". However, "a lad saw them, and told Absalom", and so they had to flee to Bahurim (2 Samuel 17:17–18).

Ein Rogel lay close to a stone, Zoheleth, where Adonijah, Solomon's half-brother of, held a sacrificial feast when he attempted to assert his claims to the throne (1 Kings 1:9).[2][3] The obviously sacred character of the spring suggests that it is the same as the Dragon Well or Serpent Well of Nehemiah 2:13.[2]

Meaning[]

As of 1901, the meaning of the name was uncertain.[2] The interpretation 'Fuller's Well' does not bear the mark of antiquity. It is probable that, like Zoheleth, the original name had some sacred or mythic significance.[2]

Location[]

The modern Bir Ayoub mosque in Silwan, built on top of Job's Well

Recent scholars identify Ein Rogel with Bir Ayyub (Bir Ayoub)[4][3][1] (also spelled Ayub, Ayoub), meaning, the "Well of Job." It is located just south of the junction of the three valleys - Hinnom, Central and Kidron.[5] Today there is a modern pumping station there, drawing water from a 38 m deep well, whose stone lining may be partially of Roman date.[3] Bir Ayoub (Arabic: بئر أيوب‎) translates to "Fountain of Job" or "Job's Well". Today the Bir Ayoub Mosque of Silwan stands above the Bir Ayoub well.

As of 1901, the identification was uncertain, Charles Warren being one of its skeptics.[1] Two locations have been suggested:

  1. Virgin's fountain (ʻAin Sitti Maryam), later ʻAin Umm ed-Deraj, 'the only real spring close to Jerusalem', exactly opposite to which lies ez-Zehweleh, perhaps Zoheleth;[2] and
  2. Bir Ayub, also known as the Well of Nehemiah, at the junction of two valleys, Wadi er-Rababi and Kidron. However, Bir-Ayoub is a well, not a spring (although it may have formerly been a spring), and is said to lie too far from ez-Zehweleh, although it lies near a large stone in Siloam village called Zehwillat. As Bir Ayoub is in full view of the city, it does not suit the context of 2 Sam. 17:17, and its antiquity is uncertain.[2]

The chief points in favour of (1) are its antiquity and the evidence of Josephus, who places the well in the royal gardens.[6] Other arguments are based upon the fact that in later times the well was used by fullers.[2]

Ein Rogel is mentioned in "Topography of Jerusalem", a document found in the Cairo Geniza, which describes how the water breaks through to the riverbed after a winter of plentiful rainfall.[7]

Gustaf Dalman who visited Palestine in the early 20th-century mentions a custom of the local inhabitants of Silwan to visit the nearby Bir Ayoub and to recite a blessing for the coming rain.[8]

Description[]

Robinson, during his tour of Palestine in 1838, describes Bir Ayoub (Job's Well) as being "a very deep well, of an irregular quadrilateral form, walled up with large squared stones, terminating above in an arch on one said, and apparently of great antiquity. There is a small rude building over it, furnished with one or two large troughs."[9] The well, he said, went down to a depth of 125 feet (38 m).

A water plant was established near Bir Ayoub, which involved large expenses and a lot of labor. A canal was hewn in the rock, 2 meters high and 0.5 to 1 meter wide.[10] The conduit is more than 600 meters long and passes under the western side of the stream channel at a depth of 23 to 30 meters below the surface.[10] The place can be reached by a staircase that is interrupted in some places.[10] It appears that the purpose of this conduit was to store the water flowing between the layers of limestone.[10]

Bir Ayub: gallery[]

External links[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Warren, C.; Conder, C.R. (1884). Jerusalem. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. pp. 371–375. OCLC 5785377.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Cheyne, Thomas Kelly; Black, J. Sutherland, eds. (1901). En-rogel. Encyclopaedia Biblica. 2. Toronto: George N. Morang & Company. p. 1297. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome (2008). The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700. Oxford Archaeological Guides. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-923666-4. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  4. ^ Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838. 1. Boston: Crocker & Brewster. p. 354. OCLC 989455877.
  5. ^ Curtis, Adrian, ed. (2007). Jerusalem in the 1st Millennium BCE. Oxford Bible Atlas (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 141, 143 (map). ISBN 978-0-19-100158-1. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  6. ^ Josephus, Antiquities vii. 14. 4.
  7. ^ Gil, Moshe (1996). Prawer, Joshua; Ben-Shammai, Haggai (eds.). The Political History of Jerusalem during the Early Muslim Period: The Jewish Community. The History of Jerusalem: The Early Muslim Period (638-1099). Yad Yzhak Ben-Zvi & NYU Press. p. 173. ISBN 9780814766392. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  8. ^ Dalman, Gustaf (2013). Work and Customs in Palestine, volumes I/1. Translated by Nadia Abdulhadi-Sukhtian. Ramallah: Dar Al Nasher. p. 141. ISBN 9789950385-00-9. OCLC 1040774903.
  9. ^ Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838. 1. Boston: Crocker & Brewster. pp. 491–492. OCLC 989455877.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Schiller, Eli, ed. (1988). Charles Wilson - Jerusalem the Holy City (צ'רלס וילסון - ירושלים העיר הקדושה) (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Ariel. p. 131. OCLC 745100584.
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